Abstract

Where do the rising powers get their power from? What does this mean for countries in the interrnational systemm, and how does this affect the way we think about the process of development itself? To address these questions this chapter aims to:
• establish the broad characteristics of rising powers
• outline the key concepts of power and change within the international system
• give some detail of the actual changes in the balance of power within the international system over the past few centuries
• outline the development trajectories of India, Brazil and China.

One of these rising powers stands out as playing an unprecedented role in reshaping the international system and as such has generated considerable anxiety among the major world powers, which tell us much about what drives and constitutes a rising power. That country is China and Section 3.1 begins by looking at what makes it a powerful development actor and how its rise is perceived to affect the power of the USA.